robo-tourism

March 13, 2007 8:40 AM

I'm thinking about taking some time off between jobs to travel around the U.S., and I'd like to see some robots.

I've been working in robotics/machine learning as a grad student (and now postdoc) for the last 5+ years, and I'm a little burned out on the field. I always get a kick out of telling people what I do because almost everybody is immediately enthusiastic about robots, and it's fun to talk about without all the academic baggage. So what I'd like to do, as part of my get-re-excited-about-robots initiative, is to go around the country and talk to people who are building interesting robots for the fun of it.

I'm aware of most of the super-serious robot researchers in the country, which I'm not so interested in seeing. I'm more interested in the garage hobbyist who came up with something neat, or moxie-ridden high schoolers. Things of that sort. Also welcome is information about robot displays, events, museums, etc.

Also, since I'd like to see a bit more of the U.S. at the same time, anything not on the east or west coasts would be a plus.

posted by logicpunk to Science & Nature (9 answers total)

Your timing is good:

2007 FIRST Championship - April 12, 13 & 14 - Atlanta, GA

"The FIRST Robotics Competition challenges teams of young people and their mentors to solve a common problem in a six-week timeframe using a standard "kit of parts" and a common set of rules. Teams build robots from the parts and enter them in a series of competitions designed by Dean Kamen, Dr. Woodie Flowers, and a committee of engineers and other professionals."
posted by mikepop at 9:16 AM on March 13, 2007

Not exactly what you're looking for, but the Sally Corporation is only a few hours south of Atlanta, in Jacksonville, FL. I'd bet a tour of that facility would be seriously sweet.
posted by saladin at 9:36 AM on March 13, 2007

It's not specifically about robots, but you might find the Maker Faire interesting.
posted by pombe at 9:55 AM on March 13, 2007

Perhaps there's a dorkbot organization having some kind of activity you'd want to include in your itinerary? I stood on my tiptoes and almost saw some robots through the crowd at their SXSW event this weekend and I think it might have been really cool.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:02 AM on March 13, 2007

Keep an eye on Suicide Bots to see if something matches in time-space?
posted by and hosted from Uranus at 10:13 AM on March 13, 2007

Here at the U of I, we apparently have robots in the corn fields and robots playing foosball. You might also get some interesting ideas from going through Flickr pictures tagged with robot and seeing what projects are out there.
posted by MsMolly at 10:44 AM on March 13, 2007

First: yes! Go to the FIRST competition! It is awesome! There are also regional competitions going on all month all around the US -- you can look at usfirst.org for details on those.

Second: find some companies (not research institutions) that do robots. Boston (east coast, I know, sorry) and Pittsburgh (there you go, toward the interior) are good examples. Ask for tours. People working in these companies (particularly the small startups) tend to be extremely passionate and excited about their work -- it's much less drudgery than research labs. These robots actually have to go somewhere and do things for people paying money! They're probably a lot more dynamic than you might be used to.
posted by olinerd at 12:35 PM on March 13, 2007

One of the regional First robot competitions is in Cleveland from March 22-24.
posted by stuart_s at 1:06 PM on March 13, 2007

GO TO FIRST!
posted by phrontist at 7:41 PM on March 13, 2007